Mommy ADD

Give yourself something to look forward to

As a completely overwhelmed, sick, too busy mom, I realized what was keeping my one little shred of sanity. It's having something to look forward to.

I don't mean something big, like a vacation, though that certainly helps. Right now, money is tough, so I look forward to weekend evenings when my husband and I play free online poker. It's fun, it's free and I enjoy it. We also have something brewing that I cannot mention yet, but suffice it to say that it gives me something to possibly look forward to. Not only that, but is a good mind blank - a good way to have something outside of my norm to think about.

This made me think about how important it is for ALL moms, but especially moms of kids with special needs. We have soooooo much going on all the time, that it is crucial that we give our brains a break.

Joan Celebi, of the Special Needs Parent Coach, addressed this today too. She recommends starting small and putting yourself first - read the entire entry here, and you should because she discussed a personal action plan. 

So, I have my ::something:: in place - do you?

Handwriting Part 2

So, as you know, I have had some issues with my son's handwriting. Well, today he was issued a school AlphaSmart.

This was spurred by a meeting with his ALP teacher (who is amazing, btw) and I decided to just bite the bullet and see what happened if I had him type his assignments.

All I can say is: Wow.

He sitting next to me now, typing up an essay. Besides the anxiety, all goes well. We will see if it continues, but so far it is a hit. I say if you have the chance to try it, go ahead and give it a shot. Can't hurt...I don't think. I'm sure one of our ADHD kids could figure a way to make it hurt, but I digress...

Three Tips For Structuring Homework Time

Here's my latest column, hope you enjoy!!

In many places school is in full swing. I had the pleasure of learning that a mere days after taking my son off his 504 plan and his meds almost concurrently, he began to bomb rapidly in school. He had missing assignments, worse than ever handwriting and an almost maxed out frustration level.

Along with working harder to find a med that will work, I also took the time to restructure our homework time. I'm only about a week into the process, but so far it really seems to be helping.

Here are three tips to structure your homework time as effectively as possible:

1. Time it appropriately. Start homework too late and the kids will already be tired. Start too early and they won't have enough time to wind down after being at school all day. My kids go to an after school program, so when we get home, they have already had time to run around and play. On days where they don't get that play time, I try to get them to burn off some energy before we try to buckle down and get to business.

2. Make sure you have everything you need. And by everything, I mean everything. I always make sure to get an extra textbook for home, but of course, my son is working out of a different textbook. This was an issue when we had to try and get caught up last week.

Make sure you have enough school supplies. I know at Target where I live, most of the school supply extras are on clearance, so I will go and buy a ton of paper and other necessities for the rest of the year.

3. Make it fun, keep it fun. Homework is not usually fun, but when you are working with someone who has the attention span of a gnat, it's important to try and make it as least painful as possible. We do Nerd homework at least once a week. Basically, we take a small (and by small I mean as minuscule as possible) candy and put it next to each homework problem. Then, after each problem, they get a candy. Talk about immediate gratification!

We also do a daily homework check in the agenda, again with the immediate gratification of either a piece of gum, or if we have the time, video game time.

This can easily be modified. Give a treat for breaking down a science project into smaller bits, for reading for a certain chunk of time or any other task.

Another way to make homework fun is to be different. This week, I let my daughter, who is in first grade, write her spelling words in red pen and then type them on the computer. She ended up practicing them 5 times and she loved it because she got to do things she normally doesn't get to.

Homework can be the bane of our existence as ADHD parents, but there are ways to make it less painful. The key is constant diligence and thinking outside the box.

Do you have an ADHD/ADD educational issue you would like to see addressed? If so, please email me at info@mommyadd.com and I will try to feature it in a new column or on my blog at www.MommyADD.com.

Does ADD/ADHD = Special Needs?

So, this has been a bad ADD/ADHD week. And by bad, I mean completely kicking my ass six ways from Sunday - or however that stupid phrase goes.

Where to begin? The week started off with us getting the kids to bed too late, so they have been tired and anyone who has ADD kids knows that tired kids lead to major meltdowns. The Princess had a MAJOR meltdown yesterday, complete with throwing toys down the hallway and breaking a necklace.

For the Old Man, we had taken him off his meds to see if it helped his anxiety/paranoia. In short, he tanked. I met with his ALP (gifted) teacher and found out that he has been lying about assignments and that he has a ton of stuff to make up. Not only this, but he is COMPLETELY disorganized. He had notebooks in the wrong spot, he had papers in the wrong spot and the kicker was that it was all in the same classroom! And he still couldn't keep track.

I have also come to a decision that he will need to begin using an Alphasmart. No matter how much we try, he writes Sanscrit or with his toes - I haven't determined yet. It also takes him forever to write. It just seems to make sense for me to make this a little more simple. 

Pair this with the anxiety issues that won't be fixed until we can get him to the psychiatrist next month.

At our counseling appointment today, I was discussing how messy our house is and how tough it is for me to get dinner on the table on a regular basis. Then I started thinking about it. I have two VERY high maintenance kids that require constant attention. I know it's not diabetes, or god forbid anything more serious, but it's still a tough gig.

But is it enough to consider us a "special needs" family? It's not that I'm looking for a label or anything, because trust me, we have enough of them in our family. But maybe it would help me to put things into better perspective. I don't know. I just have so much guilt over the cleaning and cooking that maybe if I did more research I would find more viable solutions.

Any thoughts?

Be back soon!

If you emailed me recently, I will be back with you shortly. We are all sick and I am hoping I will feel better after a day off of work tomorrow (even though I really don't want to take one - I barely made it today). Here's a quiz I took:

Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?

Three Tips for Back to School

Here is my latest column (ok, technically, it's from at least a week ago, but still...). You can read more at Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet?

Back to school time is quickly approaching – are you ready? I know I am. My kids need a set routine and unfortunately, as hard as I try, I can’t provide enough structure for them. They are ready to be back around their friends and I am ready for them to burn off some energy during the day.

Heading back to school means heading back into the land of homework, morning rituals and killer time management strategies. Here are three tips to help you prepare for the craziness of going back to school.

1. Student readiness.

[Click here to read the rest!! :)]